Understanding the elusive Mr. Putin

Problems of Post-Communism

Volumn 48, Issue 5, 2001, Pages 3-17

  Herspring, Dale R ^a   Kipp, Jacob ^a  

^a NONE

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[No Author keywords available]

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EID: 0035538427     PISSN: 10758216     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1080/10758216.2001.11655947     Document Type: Article

References (85)

1. Democracy" is not a term that translates well across languages and cultures. The accepted Western understandings of the institutions and processes associated with political democracy are alien to the Russian and Soviet experience. Put simply, Putin does not accept democracy as it is understood in the West. In his mind, and in the minds of many Russians, democracy is a stable, viable political, social, and economic system in which ordinary people may speak their minds without fear of retribution. The notion of liberty as the foundation for individual autonomy in an open society with minimal state intervention is a remote concept. Many Russians see liberty as license and an invitation to chaos and disorder. To maintain order the state must both rule and reign over society. In the end, power comes from the top down. It is the country's leaders who make the final decisions on issues of importance.
2. Material in this section is taken from Vladimir Putin, First Person (New York: Public Affairs, 2000); Alexander Rahr, Wladimir Putin; Der "Deutsche" im Kreml (Vladimir Putin: The "German" in the Kremlin) (Munich: Universitas, 2000); Rama Sampath Kumar, "President Putin; Good Czar or Bad Czar?" Economic and Political Weekly (June 3, 2000): 1904-6.
3. Material in this section is taken from Vladimir Putin, First Person (New York: Public Affairs, 2000); Alexander Rahr, Wladimir Putin; Der "Deutsche" im Kreml (Vladimir Putin: The "German" in the Kremlin) (Munich: Universitas, 2000); Rama Sampath Kumar, "President Putin; Good Czar or Bad Czar?" Economic and Political Weekly (June 3, 2000): 1904-6.
4. Material in this section is taken from Vladimir Putin, First Person (New York: Public Affairs, 2000); Alexander Rahr, Wladimir Putin; Der "Deutsche" im Kreml (Vladimir Putin: The "German" in the Kremlin) (Munich: Universitas, 2000); Rama Sampath Kumar, "President Putin; Good Czar or Bad Czar?" Economic and Political Weekly (June 3, 2000): 1904-6.
5. Mark Franchetti, "Spy Tells How Putin Blew It as KGB Rookie," Sunday Times (March 11, 2001).
6. See Graham Humes's discussion of Putin's role and effectiveness at this time. "Vladimir Vladimirovich Putin in 1994: Personal Recollection," E-Notes, Foreign Policy Research Institute (January 14, 2000).
7. Anne-Marie O'Neill, Julian Varoli, John Garelik, and Glen Mikelbank, "Vladimir Putin, Russia's Martial-Arts-Loving President-in-Waiting, Remains an Enigma," People (February 28, 2000).
8. Humes, "Vladimir Vladimorovich Putin in 1994."
9. Masha Gessen, "Putin Himself First," New Republic (January 17, 2000): 23.
10. "Russia at the Turn of the Millennium," Government of the Russian Federation, e-mail dated January 17, 2001: 5.
11. Putin, First Person, p. 80.
12. Franchetti, "Spy Tells How Putin Blew It."
13. "Putin in 2001: Burden of Choice," Ponedelnik (February 2001).
14. Ariel Cohen, "From Yeltsin to Putin," Policy Review, no. 100 (April/ May 2000): 35-49.
15. "Russia at the Turn of the Millennium," p. 6.
16. Ibid.
17. Ibid.
18. ITAR-TASS (November 28, 2000).
19. According to Izvestiia (February 8, 2001), "All opinion polls indicate that Russia wants order."
20. "Russia at the Turn of the New Millennium," pp. 2, 11.
21. Iu.V. Yaremenko, Ekonomicheskie besedy (Economic Talks) (Moscow: Center for Research and Statistical Sciences, 1999), pp. 26-27.
22. For a discussion of Yeltsin's actions during the period prior to Putin's accession to power, see Lilia Shevtsova, Yeltsin's Russia (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1999); Paul Klemnikov, Godfather of the Kremlin: Boris Berezovsky and the Looting of Russia (New York: Harcourt, 2000); Chrystia Freeland, Sale of the Century: Russia's Wild Ride from Communism to Capitalism (New York: Crown Business, 2000).
23. For a discussion of Yeltsin's actions during the period prior to Putin's accession to power, see Lilia Shevtsova, Yeltsin's Russia (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1999); Paul Klemnikov, Godfather of the Kremlin: Boris Berezovsky and the Looting of Russia (New York: Harcourt, 2000); Chrystia Freeland, Sale of the Century: Russia's Wild Ride from Communism to Capitalism (New York: Crown Business, 2000).
24. For a discussion of Yeltsin's actions during the period prior to Putin's accession to power, see Lilia Shevtsova, Yeltsin's Russia (Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace, 1999); Paul Klemnikov, Godfather of the Kremlin: Boris Berezovsky and the Looting of Russia (New York: Harcourt, 2000); Chrystia Freeland, Sale of the Century: Russia's Wild Ride from Communism to Capitalism (New York: Crown Business, 2000).
25. Moscow has yet to provide any solid evidence linking the Chechens to these bombings, but it was not difficult to convince the average Russian that the Chechens were behind them.
26. Michael McFaul, "Putin in Power," Current History (October 2000): 308.
27. "Hopes Bolster Ratings," Current Digest of the Post-Soviet Press [hereinafter, CDPSP] 52, no. 18 (2000): 10.
28. Ibid.
29. Ariel Cohen, "Commentary: Putin's Lucky Year," United Press International [hereinafter, UPI] (December 30, 2000).
30. Putin, First Person, pp. 140-41.
31. Los Angeles Times (September 17, 2000).
32. Boston Globe (December 23, 2000); Los Angeles Times (December 31, 2000).
33. Boston Globe (December 23, 2000); Los Angeles Times (December 31, 2000).
34. "Russian Paper Claims 'Little New' in President's Chechnya Remarks," Nezavisimaia gazeta (December 27, 2000), in Johnson's List (December 29, 2000).
35. "Duma Oks Revamped Concept, but Critiques Multiply," CDPSP 52, no. 22 (June 28, 2000): 1-2.
36. Los Angeles Times (July 27, 2000).
37. "Putin Decrees Seven Federal Districts," CDPSP 52, no. 20 (June 14, 2000): 1-4.
38. Julie A. Corwin, "The Incumbency Advantage," RFE/RL Newsline (January 11, 2001).
39. Washington Post (February 6, 2001).
40. Julie A. Corwin, "Has a Year Without Yeltsin Been a Year Without Change?" RFE/RL Newsline (March 14, 2001).
41. Aleksandr Tsipko, "Privatization Is No Longer Popular in Russia," Jamestown Prism 7, no. 2 (February 2001).
42. Bill Powell and Yevgenia Albats, "The Putin Crackdown," Newsweek (June 26, 2000).
43. Associated Press (June 20, 2000).
44. Los Angeles Times (July 23, 2000).
45. "Analysts: Putin-Elite Honeymoon Coming to End," Nezavisimaia gazeta (June 20, 2000), in CDPSP 52, no. 25 (2000).
46. Sophie Lambroschini and Floriana Fossato, "Gusinkii's Arrest Has Several Goals," RFE/RL Newsline (October 31, 2000).
47. RFE/RL Newsline (October 31, 2000).
48. Los Angeles Times (January 14, 2001).
49. Sophie Lambroschini, "Putin Meets Journalists to Show Tolerance to Criticism," RFE/RL Newsline (January 15, 2000).
50. Los Angeles Times (January 30, 2001).
51. Sherry Ricchiardi, "Out of the Past: Forget Glasnost and Perestroika: Russia's Harsh Crackdown on the Media Is an Unhappy Echo of the Iron Curtain Era," American Journalism Review (May 2001) (ajr.newslink.org/ ajrsherrymay01.html); Yevgenia Albats, "Cry for Russia's Lost Press Liberty: Now 'Managed Democracy' is Replacing Freedom of Expression," Guardian (May 11, 2001). Some of Putin's supporters advocate systematic control of the mass media by the state's power structures to conduct an ideological struggle with the "new world order." See A.P. Tarantsev, Nash put: Strategischeste perspektivy razvitiya Rossii v XXI veke (Tezisy kontseptualnogo proekta) (Our Tangled Mess: Strategic Perspectives on the Development of Russia in the 21st Century [Thesis for a Conceptual Project]) (Moscow: ZAO, 1999), pp. 129-30.
52. Sherry Ricchiardi, "Out of the Past: Forget Glasnost and Perestroika: Russia's Harsh Crackdown on the Media Is an Unhappy Echo of the Iron Curtain Era," American Journalism Review (May 2001) (ajr.newslink.org/ ajrsherrymay01.html); Yevgenia Albats, "Cry for Russia's Lost Press Liberty: Now 'Managed Democracy' is Replacing Freedom of Expression," Guardian (May 11, 2001). Some of Putin's supporters advocate systematic control of the mass media by the state's power structures to conduct an ideological struggle with the "new world order." See A.P. Tarantsev, Nash put: Strategischeste perspektivy razvitiya Rossii v XXI veke (Tezisy kontseptualnogo proekta) (Our Tangled Mess: Strategic Perspectives on the Development of Russia in the 21st Century [Thesis for a Conceptual Project]) (Moscow: ZAO, 1999), pp. 129-30.
53. Sherry Ricchiardi, "Out of the Past: Forget Glasnost and Perestroika: Russia's Harsh Crackdown on the Media Is an Unhappy Echo of the Iron Curtain Era," American Journalism Review (May 2001) (ajr.newslink.org/ ajrsherrymay01.html); Yevgenia Albats, "Cry for Russia's Lost Press Liberty: Now 'Managed Democracy' is Replacing Freedom of Expression," Guardian (May 11, 2001). Some of Putin's supporters advocate systematic control of the mass media by the state's power structures to conduct an ideological struggle with the "new world order." See A.P. Tarantsev, Nash put: Strategischeste perspektivy razvitiya Rossii v XXI veke (Tezisy kontseptualnogo proekta) (Our Tangled Mess: Strategic Perspectives on the Development of Russia in the 21st Century [Thesis for a Conceptual Project]) (Moscow: ZAO, 1999), pp. 129-30.
54. New York Times (January 15, 2000).
55. Donald Jensen, "The Rise of Russia's Security Council," RFE/RL Newsline (January 8, 2001).
56. Strana.ru, "Russian Government Sums Up 2000 Results," in Johnson's List, December 29, 2000. Another source suggests that it may reach 7.7 percent for 2000. Reuters (January 29, 2001).
57. "Russia Still Investing in Global Instability," Financial Post (December 20, 2000).
58. "Good, But Not Good Enough," Russia Journal (January 13-19, 2001).
59. Los Angeles Times (January 10, 2001).
60. Moscow Times (January 24, 2001).
61. Jamestown Monitor (January 26, 2001).
62. Moscow Times (February 15, 2001).
63. Washington Post (January 24, 2001).
64. RFE/RL Newsline (January 18, 2001).
65. Washington Post (July 11, 2000).
66. Los Angeles Times (July 11, 2000). The Foreign Policy Concept is printed in Rossiiskaia gazeta (July 11, 2000).
67. Los Angeles Times (July 11, 2000). The Foreign Policy Concept is printed in Rossiiskaia gazeta (July 11, 2000).
68. Jamestown Monitor (January 4, 2001).
69. New York Times (January 14, 2001).
70. Los Angeles Times (June 16, 2001).
71. ITAR-TASS (June 18, 2001). One immediate impact of the summit could be seen in the sphere of military-to-military contacts, which had been rocky following mutual expulsions of military personnel serving in Moscow and Washington.
72. RFE/RL Newsline (June 20, 2001).
73. Washington Post (June 5, 2000).
74. U.S. News & World Report (January 15, 2001).
75. Trud (January 30, 2001).
76. Argumenty i fakty, no. 6 (February 2001).
77. Interfax (May 11, 2001).
78. U.S. News & World Report (January 15, 2001).
79. Interfax (May 4, 2001).
80. Michael McFaul, "Get Real, Russia!" Moscow Times (January 18, 2001).
81. Moscow Times (January 18, 2001).
82. Alvin Z. Rubinstein, "A U.S. Policy for Russia," Foreign Policy Research Institute (April 25, 2001) at www.fpri.org.
83. Financial Times (December 2, 2000); Manchester Guardian Weekly (February 7, 2001); Aleksandr Dugin, "Putin idealnyy pravitel nyneshnego perioda" (Putin Is the Ideal Ruler for the Present Time) (April 3, 2000) (www.dni.ru/more.phpid'2058).
84. Financial Times (December 2, 2000); Manchester Guardian Weekly (February 7, 2001); Aleksandr Dugin, "Putin idealnyy pravitel nyneshnego perioda" (Putin Is the Ideal Ruler for the Present Time) (April 3, 2000) (www.dni.ru/more.phpid'2058).
85. Financial Times (December 2, 2000); Manchester Guardian Weekly (February 7, 2001); Aleksandr Dugin, "Putin idealnyy pravitel nyneshnego perioda" (Putin Is the Ideal Ruler for the Present Time) (April 3, 2000) (www.dni.ru/more.phpid'2058).